DWR weather & climate news: Rain yes, snow no, and still in a drought, 2nd lowest initial allocation; climate change in California & more

Posted by: Maven on October 31, 2008 at 5:58 am

From the Department of Water Resources, it’s weather and climate news!

Yes, it will rain on and off the next few days. No, we won’t pull out of the drought.

First off, the weather situation is clouding over. Literally, not figuratively. A long jet stream stretched well across the Pacific taps tropical moisture through the weekend, by way of an offshore deep trof off the west coast. It won’t rain the whole time, and hopefully there’ll be a break timed for Trick or Treat. But expect wet weather for the northern and central parts of the Golden State in the days ahead.

Timing and amounts:
This afternoon and tonight, rain showers will occur over the northern half of the state, under a southerly flow. Tonight/ Friday’s wave tapers in the late afternoon/ early evening in the valley and coast, but still could be a little soggy for foothill locations on Halloween night. Of the 2 or 3 waves, the Saturday/Saturday night system will be the heaviest. South / southwesterly winds will enhance orographic forcing (more lift, more rain) on south facing slopes. These are warm RAIN systems, with snow levels quite high; 7,500′ to 11,000′, across the state, generally speaking. Total northern Sierra (and some north coastal) precip totals will climb to 5-6″ through the weekend. By Sunday morning, the system spreads rain along the central coast, as far south as about Santa Barbara. Big Sur burn areas may see a total of 2-3″ of rainfall by the end of this weekend. (More on burn areas in a moment).

This set up does have some tropical moisture in it, and has connections that suggest the onset of what would be a welcome wet pattern. No one wants it to go overboard, but perhaps the MJO, Madden-Julian Oscillation, will produce many of these types of storms in the months ahead. Of course, that’s not a forecast, it’s a wish. Without a strong La Nina or El Nino in place over the tropical Pacific (what’s known colloquially as La Nada), warm, moist storms have a better chance of making it to the west coast this winter. When combined with a cool Pacific Decadal phase (cool temperatures in the Northern Pacific), there are some scientific reasons to be optimistic about the winter. Nonetheless, these patterns can break down, or modify. So the most we can say is that maybe we’ll make a good start to the fall. Additionally, kudos to the forecast brains of the National Weather Service for calling this pattern ahead of time, for a November shift to wet.

Continue reading “DWR weather & climate news: Rain yes, snow no, and still in a drought, 2nd lowest initial allocation; climate change in California & more” »

ACWA: Near record-low water allocation paints grim picture for 2009

Posted by: Maven on October 31, 2008 at 5:47 am

From Marketwire, this press release from ACWA:

Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) Executive Director Timothy Quinn issued the following statement today on the initial 2009 water supply allocations announced by the Department of Water Resources. The department has notified State Water Project contractors that they may receive just 15% of requested deliveries next year — the second lowest initial allocation in the project’s history. SWP contractors deliver water to 25 million Californians and more than 750,000 acres of farmland.

“This extremely low allocation leaves little doubt that we are in critical territory going into 2009. While the State Water Project service area will clearly see major impacts as a result of this allocation, the drought will continue to have a grip on the entire state. And it is likely to get worse before it gets better.

“All Californians have to take this seriously. Though many of the drought actions have been voluntary to this point, we see a trend toward more restrictive kinds of actions. Tight controls on outdoor water use will be the norm, and many Californians will see drought surcharges and higher water rates to encourage conservation.

“Even if it rains tomorrow or we end up with a wet year, we can’t assume these problems will go away. It’s a new day in California water as we deal with both drought and court-ordered restrictions on water deliveries. We have to invest in making our system — and particularly the Delta — more sustainable so we can meet the needs of species and the environment and still have a reliable water supply.”

ACWA is partnering with the Department of Water Resources to coordinate drought assistance and public education efforts. More on ACWA’s efforts and drought response measures is available at http://www.acwa.com/issues/drought2008/water_supply_conditions.asp.

ACWA is a statewide association of public agencies whose 450 members are responsible for about 90% of the water delivered in California. For more information, visit www.acwa.com.

Grim water supply forecast for 2009 reinforces need for new water delivery system, says the State Water Contractors

Posted by: Maven on October 31, 2008 at 5:38 am

From Market Watch, this press release from the State Water Contractors:

The bleak water supply forecast for 2009 reinforces the pressing need to build a new water delivery system that will protect the environment and provide a reliable water supply for Californians. Water agencies receiving water from the State Water Project (SWP), one of the state’s primary water delivery systems, may only get 15 percent of their contract water supplies in 2009, according to early forecasts released today by the California Department of Water Resources.

In light of the low predictions, the State Water Contractors also warned today that residents, businesses and farms throughout the state will see significant new restrictions on water use in 2009.
“Even if we have a wet fall and winter, the water won’t necessarily be available to us because deliveries are also being cut to protect fish in the Delta. We are anticipating drastically reduced water supplies, regardless of weather conditions,” said Laura King Moon, assistant general manager of the State Water Contractors. “The fragility of the Delta ecosystem, combined with the drought we are currently experiencing, makes it imperative for California to agree on a comprehensive, long-term Delta fix. We can’t make it rain, but we can make the system work better to ensure a reliable water supply for Californians and protect the environment.” added Moon.

This exceptionally low forecast is due to restrictions placed on water deliveries from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (Delta) to protect endangered fish species, and severely dry conditions in California throughout 2008 that are expected to continue into 2009. A ten percent projected statewide allocation for the SWP is the lowest in California history.

This comes at a time when California is already reeling from ongoing hits to the state’s water supply and delivery system. Having been allocated only 35 percent of their contracted water supplies in 2008, state water managers have been facing significantly reduced water deliveries for nearly a year.

Dry conditions have been so bad that Governor Schwarzenegger has formally declared California to be in a state of drought and collectively, reservoirs throughout the state are at the lowest levels in 14 years. San Luis Reservoir, one of the state’s largest reservoirs, is able to hold 2,039,000 acre-feet of water but today only holds a little more than 230,000 acre-feet — a dismal 11 percent of capacity. In addition to drought, instability within the Delta has significantly impacted the reliability of our water supply. Water exports were slashed in 2008 to protect fish species and by mid-2008, 660,000 acre-feet of water had been cut – enough to serve 5.3 million Californians for one year.

Continue reading “Grim water supply forecast for 2009 reinforces need for new water delivery system, says the State Water Contractors” »

Odds and ends: bloggers react to water allocation, but forget about Oregon says the USGS, some eco innovations, why isn’t groundwater in CA regulated, and more!

Posted by: Maven on October 31, 2008 at 5:25 am

My cup simply runneth over with interesting odds and ends today….

Housing meets its ultimate adversary – water, says the Westchester Parents blog, who points out that this is a disaster that city leaders themselves have created: Our city leaders need to now come to grips with the problem and recognize that their policies have contributed significantly to the problem. Regardless of desktop projections that the city will need ten’s of thousands of new housing units, the reality is that there are not enough water resources to fulfill that fantasy. Ignoring the practical limits of supply, cities have built-out so significantly that they have finally reached the point where consumption exceeds supplies. It’s a fantasy, he says, that we can build enough homes to accommodate the expected increase in population forecasted for Southern California. From the Westchester Parents blog – click here.

Meanwhile, Spreck Rosekranz of the Environmental Defense Fund says the allocation figure released by DWR is meaningless, as it will be revised later anyway after we see what precipitation actually occurs. So why are they really doing it? The reason for issuing a forecast earlier than ever before appears to be that it is simply one more opportunity to advocate for new dams and a peripheral canal. Lester Snow, DWR’s Director of the Department of Water Resources is clear on that point, stating that the initial allocation “… further dramatizes the urgent need for additional investments in water storage and conveyance infrastructure to assure an adequate and reliable water supply…”. From Spreck Rosekranz of the Environmental Defense Fund’s On the Waterfront blog – click here.

Don’t look north to that groundwater in Oregon, says the USGS, as it’s already spoken for: Water Wired has a response from the USGS taking an issue with the recent article in the Oregonian that implied that there was a vast, unused amount of groundwater that could be available for use or for export: the concept of a “secret stockpile” of water that “someone, someday may want to use” is not only incorrect, but troubling because it implies that ground water in the Cascade Range is not already being used. In reality, ground water from the Cascades supplies much of the flow to major streams on both sides of the range, and, consequently, is already being relied upon by communities, irrigators, and important aquatic ecosystems. More from the USGS via the Water Wired blog by clicking here.

Water your lawn With your *ahem* waste? No, I’m not talking about a “Women & Sitters Only” policy for your bathroom: Biokube, a Danish company, is bringing the BioKube Venus to America. The Venus is a septic tank advanced enough that it can make your waste water clean enough for use in agriculture (i.e. watering your lanw.) The device would produce more than the 15,000 gallons used by most households. The excess would just be released into groundwater like current septic systems. But, I suppose you’d want to limit the amount of frolicking in the sprinklers your kids were doing. The product will debut right here in California. More from the Eco-Geek blog by clicking here.

First solar thermal plant in 20 years launches in Bakersfield: Only serving 3500 homes homes right now, this plant could serve as a gateway to a much larger plant in the future. Here’s how it works: Unlike solar photovoltaic systems that convert sunlight into electricity, this plant will focus sunlight on tubes that contains water. The light heats the water, creating steam, thus turning turbines. This is important because steam storage will allow the plant to run after sunset. From the Clean Technica blog – click here.

GOAT blog asks why California does not regulate groundwater (only CA & TX don’t, by the way) and says “the environmental establishment has become much too cozy with the purveyors of environmental destruction”. Why? … in the wine country north of San Francisco stream flow is decreasing at an alarming rate. Groundwater pumping is implicated along with illegal surface diversions and the rapidly expanding wine industry is known to be the main culprit. Yet the environmental and fishing group Trout Unlimited recently accepted over a million dollars in state funding to “form partnerships” with the wine industry. Trout Unlimited is unlikely to support limits on groundwater pumping which would surely be seen as a threat to its new wine industry partners. Also, the blog discusses how irrigators and some farmers in the Klamath region have been selling groundwater at unsustainble rates. Check it out from High Country News’ GOAT blog by clicking here.

San Francisco’s Proposition R to rename the sewage plant in honor of George Bush just oozes respect, says the Golden Gate Xpress: “Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it,” he [the chairman of the Presidential Memorial Commission of San Francisco] wrote in his proponent’s argument. “President Bush has left us with a gigantic mess, and this facility symbolizes the city’s deft ability to clean up its share of the financial and diplomatic mess left in the administration’s wake…we think President Bush deserves immediate recognition for his eight years of public service.” Before you dismiss it as silly, the Xpress wants you to remember the wooden dummy named Brendan O’Smarty. From the Golden Gate Xpress – click here.

For all of you storm water and urban runoff people, bookmark this new blog from the Los Angeles Stormwater Quality Partnership: Stormwater Trends.

Pictures, pictures, pictures! Here’s a great article about Mono Lake, the most unique & bizarre lakes from around the world – and there’s a lot of them, Imperial Valley officials and their secret twins, and a the BBC has a slideshow of Prix Pictet winners featuring amatuer & professional photos of water.

Metropolitan Water District General Manager’s statement on initial State Water Project allocation for 2009

Posted by: Maven on October 30, 2008 at 3:22 pm

From Business Wire:

Jeff Kightlinger, general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, issues the following statement regarding the California Department of Water Resource’s initial 15 percent allocation of State Water Project supplies to Metropolitan for the 2009 water year:

“We are preparing for the very real possibility of water shortages and rationing throughout the region in 2009. Over the past two years, Metropolitan has depleted more than a third of its water reserves to deal with drought and court-ordered water cutbacks from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. These reserves are rapidly reaching a level that demands careful management.

“While this low initial State Water Project allocation was anticipated, it still sends a solemn message up and down California—we all must immediately reduce water use to stretch available supplies.

“Metropolitan cannot expect any short-term relief from its supply situation if it begins to rain in the Southland, in Northern California or in the Colorado River watershed. The Delta’s serious environmental problems are driving court decisions and regulatory actions that are drastically limiting the ability to move water across the estuary. This is not a short-term problem that will be washed away with a few good storms.

“Throughout its 80-year history, Metropolitan has dependably met the region’s imported water needs. It has been a remarkable era of water stability, thanks to astute decisions that expanded our storage facilities, enhanced conservation and increased local supplies such as recycling. But now we are facing a continuing historic dry cycle and unprecedented environmental challenges in the Delta.

“For many months, Metropolitan has closely monitored weather conditions and water storage levels. If the region faces a shortage in 2009, the district has in place an allocation formula that seeks to equitably distribute supplies, while preserving emergency reserves. Conservation is an absolute necessity. Using less and being more efficient is the new water reality in Southern California.”

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a cooperative of 26 cities and water agencies serving nearly 19 million people in six counties. The district imports water from the Colorado River and Northern California to supplement local supplies, and helps its members to develop increased water conservation, recycling, storage and other resource-management programs.

Long Beach Water Department: State officials project 85% cut to requested state water deliveries in 2009; The initial allocation is second lowest in the history of the State Water Project

Posted by: Maven on October 30, 2008 at 3:21 pm

From the Long Beach Water Department, this press release:

Today, the Long Beach Board of Water Commissioners are again urging area water suppliers to immediately implement mandatory prohibitions on certain outdoor uses of water, following a dramatic announcement by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) that imported water deliveries to the San Francisco Bay area, the Central Valley and to southern California are initially projected to only be 15 percent of normal. The State’s announcement, which comes each year around the end of November, comes early this year to encourage local water suppliers throughout the state to prepare for what is expected to be another dry year.

The State Water Project delivers water to more than 25 million California residents and more than 750,000 acres of farmland. This year, water contractors requested 4,166,376 million acre-feet of water for the 2009 calendar year, the maximum contractual amount allowed. The actual water deliveries can increase from the initial allocation depending on the year’s hydrologic and water supply conditions. The lowest initial allocation was 10 percent of contractors’ requested amount in 1993, but the number was increased to 100 percent of the requested amount as favorable weather conditions developed. Last year however, the initial figure was 25 percent and it was only increased to 35 percent.

Jeff Kightlinger, General Manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the agency that supplies Long Beach with half its water supply, said his agency is preparing for the very real possibility of shortages and rationing throughout the region next year. “Over the past two years, Metropolitan has depleted more than a third of its water reserves to deal with drought and court-ordered water cutbacks from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. These reserves are rapidly reaching a level that demands careful management.” Kightliner also stated that his agency can’t count on relief from the situation if it rains here, in northern California or in the Colorado River watershed. “The Delta’s serious environmental problems are driving court decisions and regulatory actions that are drastically limiting the ability to move water across the estuary. This is not a short-term problem that will be washed away with a few good storms.”

Kevin Wattier, General Manager of the Long Beach Water Department, goes further, stating that the State of California, and water supply leaders like the Metropolitan Water District, must do all they can to move communities throughout the State, particularly here in southern California, into mandating strict water conservation requirements, most importantly the prohibition of egregious outdoor watering activities that have been common place in neighborhoods all across southern California. “We need to collectively engineer a major lifestyle change in the way we think about and use water, so that inefficient and wasteful uses, which go on each and every day in our communities, are no longer tolerated. Postponing action is a gamble that we cannot afford to make as a region, considering the consequences that we’ll face short of an above average rain year. We are at a point where southern California simply does not have enough water to meet our demand for it going forward, even in normal hydrologic years.”

In September 2007, the Long Beach Board of Water Commissioners officially declared that a water supply shortage for southern California, including Long Beach, was imminent, triggering implementation of the Commission’s Emergency Water Supply Shortage Plan. Activation of that plan put in place several strict prohibitions on certain outdoor uses of water, making those particular uses illegal activities in the City of Long Beach. Long Beach water demand for Fiscal Year 2008 set a new, record 10-year low. That announcement, made earlier this month, means that less water was consumed in Long Beach this past fiscal year, than any other year over the past decade. In fact, Long Beach consumed less water this past fiscal year than the city did during the height of the 1987-1992 drought, with mandatory rationing and a population 15 percent smaller than today. September 2008 was the City’s 9th record setting month (all 10-year lows) for low water use since the Board of Water Commissioner’s water shortage declaration.

John Allen, President of the Long Beach Board of Water Commissioners, cites marked human behavior and attitude change as the reason for the city’s record setting year. “This is an entire community coming together and engaging itself in a worthy endeavor. We need other southern California communities to get going, which will be the only way any successful region wide effort is going to be sustained.”

The Long Beach Water Department is an urban, southern California, retail water supply agency and the standard in water conservation and environmental stewardship.

Pavement that’s porous gains ground

Posted by: Maven on October 30, 2008 at 3:15 pm

A shout out to the Sisweb for this one! From The Boston Globe:

Joni Mitchell vilified builders in her 1970s hit song, “Big Yellow Taxi,” knocking them for paving paradise to put up parking lots. The asphalt going in at 585 Middlesex St. in Lowell probably wouldn’t have changed the singer-songwriter’s message, but it might have given her pause with the lyrics.

The parking lot at the new headquarters of Nobis Engineering Inc. is being installed with an environmentally friendly asphalt called porous pavement. By letting rainwater seep through to filtration beds, porous pavement is correcting a pollution problem called road runoff, which is of particular concern in the densely populated, heavily traveled Merrimack Valley.

“More and more every day, porous pavement is proving itself to be an environmentally sound method of putting down paving material,” said Scott Colby, environmental and estates manager for Saugus-based Aggregate Industries Inc., the paving company doing the work for Nobis. “Using porous pavement, you can recharge ground water much better, and in the winter it doesn’t freeze up like regular pavement does. The material works quite well.”

Read more from the Boston Globe by clicking here.

DWR Releases Initial State Water Project Allocation

Posted by: Maven on October 30, 2008 at 10:01 am

From the Department of Water Resources, this press release:

Sacramento -The Department of Water Resources (DWR) today announced an initial allocation of 15 percent for water delivery to the State Water Project (SWP) contractors in 2009.

“This further dramatizes the urgent need for additional investments in water storage and conveyance infrastructure to assure an adequate and reliable water supply,” said DWR Director Lester Snow. “The uncertainly of precipitation patterns due to global warming and deteriorating conditions in the Delta, California’s main water hub, demand immediate action to enhance our ecosystem and keep our economy productive in the 21st century. The Governor has sounded the wakeup call, and the clock is ticking.”

The allocation is the second lowest in the history of the SWP. It reflects the low carryover storage levels in the state’s major reservoirs, ongoing drought conditions and court ordered restrictions on water deliveries from the Delta.

The lowest initial allocation figure was 10 percent of SWP Contractors’ requests in 1993, but that number was increased to 100 percent during the water year as conditions developed. Last year, the initial figure was 25 percent and it was increased to 35 percent.

DWR has historically made this important announcement at the end of November, complying with the long-term water supply contracts requiring a
Dec. 1 announcement. Today’s announcement comes slightly earlier to help local water agencies better prepare for 2009, which is expected to be another dry year. The announcement is part of the department’s effort to implement Gov. Schwarzenegger’s Drought Executive Order (S-06-08) directing DWR to help local water districts and agencies proactively address these conditions.

SWP contractors deliver water to more than 25 million California residents and more than 750,000 acres of farmland. This year, SWP contractors requested 4,166,376 million acre-feet of water for the 2009 calendar year, the maximum contractual amount allowed. Actual delivery amounts can increase from the initial allocation depending on the year’s hydrologic and water supply conditions.

In preparing the initial allocation, DWR considered a conservative projection of hydrology; SWP operational constraints including additional 2009 Delta export restrictions per the federal district court’s remedy order to protect Delta Smelt; and 2009 contractor demands, including carryover water from 2008.

A notice to SWP contractors appears on DWR’s State Water Project Analysis Office Web site at: http://www.swpao.water.ca.gov/notices/

Study finds silver lining for maligned saltcedars; UA research shows that the non-native “invader” isn’t as bad as as first thought

Posted by: Maven on October 30, 2008 at 6:18 am

From the University of Arizona:

There is nothing neutral about saltcedar. Imported to America’s East Coast from Eurasia as a nursery plant in the early 1800s, the hardy shrub’s popularity grew beyond ornamental purposes in the early 1900s, when thousands were planted out West to stabilize irrigation canals and control erosion along elevated Southern Pacific rail lines. Satisfaction turned to alarm when the eight imported species of saltcedar, also called tamarisk, escaped cultivation and spread too fast.

Dense thickets of the drought-and salt-tolerant species Tamarix ramossisima today cover vast tracts of the West and Southwest, especially in riparian areas once filled with native willows and cottonwoods. Blamed for guzzling too much water, out-competing native plants and destroying wildlife habitats, saltcedar has been the focus of 25 years of aggressive abatement efforts. To many, the only way to control it is to kill and remove it.

“The longstanding idea is that getting rid of saltcedar would improve the ecology and save water,” said Ed Glenn, a senior research scientist in the Environmental Research Laboratory, part of The University of Arizona’s department of soil, water and environmental science. Yet eradication measures are costly, time-consuming and labor intensive and may not, as new research shows, be entirely necessary.

Glenn and a team of scientists from the UA, the U.S. Geological Survey and other institutions have spent 10 years comparing saltcedar and native plant water use, and assessing riparian zone ecology along the Lower Colorado River, which stretches from the Grand Canyon to the delta in Mexico. Those studies have yielded surprising results.

“What we’ve found using remote sensors calibrated with ground measurements is that saltcedar only uses three feet of water per year, which is less than your backyard lawn, and even less than the native trees,” Glenn said. “In comparison, farmers apply seven to nine feet to their alfalfa fields, of which the plants use about six feet, and the rest is lost to runoff or deep infiltration.”

Read more from the University of Arizona by clicking here.

DWR releases climate change white paper

Posted by: Maven on October 29, 2008 at 3:20 pm

From the Department of Water Resources, this press release:

The Department of Water Resources (DWR) today released a report urging California’s water managers to develop climate adaptation strategies.

The report, Managing an Uncertain Future: Climate Change Adaptation Strategies for California’s Water, details how climate change is already affecting the state’s water supplies and sets forth a number of recommendations to help avoid or reduce climate change impacts to water resources.

Disturbing trends over the last half century suggest California faces a shrinking snowmelt, increased flooding, longer droughts and a rise in sea level.

The report proposes ten adaptation strategies in four categories. Chief among those recommendations is that California must develop a sustained investment strategy to reliably finance the state’s water future. The report also suggests that regional and local entities implement a diverse portfolio of water management techniques to better address uncertainties of changing water patterns. This management approach, known as Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM), is already in place throughout the state and a key part of Gov. Schwarzenegger’s vision for California’s water future. IRWM will become the core strategy in water planning to adapt to the challenges posed by climate change.

The report strongly suggests that statewide water management systems also adapt as the climate changes. Strategies include coordination of land use, watersheds, reservoirs, floodplains and aquifers to protect public safety, preserve water quality and supply and provide for the ecosystem. California must expand research of climate change and its impact on water and the environment as well.

DWR’s report is the latest in the administration’s efforts to address climate change and will feed into the state’s overall climate adaptation strategy. The report follows on the heels of the Air Resources Board’s Proposed Scoping Plan, which contains water efficiency and conservation measures and is designed to mitigate climate change impacts by reducing California’s greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2020.

To view the full text of Managing an Uncertain Future; Climate Change Adaptation Strategies for California’s Water, visit http://www.water.ca.gov/climatechange/articles.cfm

The public will have the opportunity to discuss the report in detail at the Climate Change Adaptation Summit hosted by DWR and the Water Education Foundation Nov. 13-14 in Long Beach. To learn more about the summit or to register, visit http://www.watereducation.org/doc.asp?id=852&parentID=849.

Markets for water quality: EPA tries using incentives and markets to address growing water quality challenges

Posted by: Maven on October 29, 2008 at 6:17 am

From the Property & Environment Research Center:

In the late 1990s, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began encouraging the use of market forces to improve water quality in rivers, streams, and coastal waters. The EPA realized that the command-and-control, point-source regulations prescribed by the Clean Water Act were not working.

In some cases, every point source such as discharge from a pipe at an industrial facility was operating within the limits of EPA-sanctioned permits, but the river was still polluted. Uncontrolled nonpoint-source discharge such as excess fertilizers and insecticides from farming was generally the culprit, but agriculture was outside the EPA’s regulatory authority. In other cases, the activities of large numbers of publicly owned treatment works were not under the control of one coordinating authority.

To the EPA’s credit, the agency has encouraged experimentation with incentives and markets to address growing water quality challenges. Three different approaches in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and North Carolina serve as examples.

Read more from the Property & Environment Research Center by clicking here.

Hat tip to the Parkway Blog for this one.

Yuba River salmon tours begin November 1

Posted by: Maven on October 28, 2008 at 10:41 pm

From Dan Bacher:

For thousands of years, wild chinook salmon have returned from the ocean through San Francisco Bay to Central Valley rivers to complete their long journey of sex, death, and rebirth that connects the ocean to the mountains. After the adult salmon die every fall after spawning, their carcasses recycle nutrients into the food chain that sustains juvenile salmon, steelhead and other fish species.

As a longtime recreational fisherman that has caught many salmon in the ocean off central and northern California and in the Sacramento, American and Feather rivers over the years, I am very familiar with the annual journey of these wonderful fish. However, there are many people in California who have never seen a salmon in their native habitat. The Source to Sea Collective invites you to come witness an amazing phenomena that is taking place in your own watershed, your own backyard.

Central Valley chinook salmon are in their greatest crisis ever now. The population of Sacramento River fall run fish has collapsed from over 800,000 fish in 2002 to only 60,000 fish this year, due to massive increases in water exports from the California Delta and declining water quality under the Bush and Schwarzenegger administrations, combined with poor ocean conditions in 2005 and other factors. On the Yuba River, salmon populations have declined to less than ten thousand fish in the Yuba in recent years.

Continue reading “Yuba River salmon tours begin November 1” »

Sacramento clean water hearing on Pacificorp’s Klamath dams – 10/29

Posted by: Maven on October 28, 2008 at 10:37 pm

From the Klamath Riverkeeper:

For the last four years PacifiCorp’s Klamath dams have created one of the worst toxic algae problems ever recorded, threatening the public health of rural residents and California’s three largest Native Tribes. This month, the State Water Board will begin deciding if relicensing these dams is consistent with the Clean Water Act.

Show up for these public hearings and submit your comments to the Water Board: PacifiCorp’s dams should NOT receive the clean water certification they need from the state of California in order to be relicensed by the federal government.

After successul legal action from Klamath Riverkeeper forcing the US EPA to list the algal toxin Microcystin as a pollutant, and forcing California to regulate PacifiCorp, the state is now reviewing the issue through a special Environmental Impact Report (EIR). This EIR will determine if the dams are issued clean water certification known as a 401 permit, or if they are removed. The 401 permit may be the single most crucial process within the movement to un-dam the Klamath. If California denies PacifiCorps clean water permit for the dams, it is likely that the only realistic solution to the algae pollution is dam removal.

Downloadable talking points and more information at http://www.klamathriver.org/Action-Alerts.html#hearings
News article at http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_10606724

TAKE ACTION!

We are depending on the Klamath-loving public to stand up for clean water on our river and environmental justice, and say no to dams that threaten it. In the coming weeks there will be multiple public hearings on the decision to issue PacifiCorp a 401 permit. We absolutely need you to attend whatever hearings are in your area and to submit comments on this issue. These are scoping hearings, meaning the Water Board is using them to determine the issues to be considered during the final hearings occurring later this year.

Questions about the process and how to comment as well as carpool information may be directed to Malena Marvin (541-821-7260, malena[at]klamathriver.org). Talking points for the hearings are online at:http://www.klamathriver.org/Documents/TalkingPoints401.pdf

Final hearing:

Sacramento, Ca – October 29th, 3- 6 pm
California EPA Bldg – Byron Sher Auditorium
1001 “I” St.

Federal court upholds protection for California’s wild steelhead trout

Posted by: Maven on October 28, 2008 at 6:21 pm

From Media Newswire:

A U.S. District Court judge has rejected an attempt by California irrigators and logging industry groups to strip protected status from five populations of wild steelhead trout. Today’s ruling rejects two separate challenges to steelhead protection in California. In the first case, anti-environment group Pacific Legal Foundation, which represents loggers and water users, argued that the National Marine Fisheries Service must make Endangered Species Act ( ESA ) listing decisions based simply on the numbers of hatchery steelhead produced each year. PLF asked the court to remove five separate populations of steelhead from the list of endangered species based on the presence of hatchery fish. In the second case, a group of Central Valley irrigators argued that ocean-going Central Valley steelhead population should be removed from the endangered species list based on their opinion that freshwater resident rainbow trout might someday replace extinct steelhead populations.

“We need wild steelhead in California’s rivers,” said Steve Mashuda, an attorney with Earthjustice. “Steelhead and people need clean water, swimmable streams, and healthy habitat. We all win when we protect and recover wild steelhead and their habitat,” said Mashuda.

The ruling marks the third time that federal courts on the West Coast have rejected arguments that all fish must be treated the same when making ESA listing decisions.

Read more from Media Newswire by clicking here.

Tom Chandler of the Trout Underground weighs in: “Steelhead huggers (and that includes us) will be pleased to hear a federal judge has kicked a truly ludicrous lawsuit to the curb, refusing to strip protections from five California steelhead populations. Those with a finely tuned sense of irony will find the irrigator’s argument especially amusing…” More from the Trout Underground blog by clicking here.

Upcoming Event: Climate Change: Managing Risk & Uncertainty November 13-14

Posted by: Maven on October 28, 2008 at 6:17 am

Sponsored by the Department of Water Resources and the Water Education Foundation:

A 1-1/2 day summit, Climate Change: Managing Risk & Uncertainty, set for Nov. 13-14 at the Long Beach Hilton, will bring together top experts from local water agencies, cities, state government, and those in the water community connected with state and federal water systems, to discuss the effects of climate change and adaptation on California’s water management. The summit will address the challenges and opportunities facing California in the development of water policies in the face of climate change. The summit is sponsored by the California Department of Water Resources and the Water Education Foundation. Don’t miss this opportunity to discuss climate change impacts and adaptation with leading water experts.

For more information and to register, click here.

Salmon study: Dammed or not – A river with zero dams or a river with eight may not be much different for Columbia River salmon

Posted by: Maven on October 28, 2008 at 6:15 am

From Science News:

There could be no difference in how young salmon survive their journey down a free-flowing river versus the Columbia River system, which has been heavily dammed.

A new system for tagging small fish allows biologists to monitor young salmon migration survival in a big, undammed river for the first time, David Welch of Kintama Research Corporation in Nanaimo, Canada, and colleagues report online October 28 in PLoS Biology.

The technique also opened the way for a comparison study to check the effects of the dams.

Scientists were able to compare tagged hatchery-raised Chinook salmon on the free-flowing Fraser River in Canada against a group of hatchery-raised Chinook salmon on the Columbia River, and this is what they found:

Chinook smolts didn’t survive any better in the free-flowing Fraser system than a comparison hatchery group did on its journey through the dams in the Columbia system, of which the Snake River is a major tributary, the researchers found.

Just under a third of the Chinook survived the whole trip in both systems. In a sense, the Columbia River system may even have been less destructive despite its dams, Welch says. The smolts there had to cover 910 kilometers, more than twice the distance of the Fraser trip, but still survived in about the same proportion.

“We have discovered something none of us ever thought in our wildest dreams,” Welch says.

Just what that discovery means can be interpreted several ways. “The key message is not that dams are good for salmon,” Welch says. In the 1960s and ’70s, “absolutely the dams were a problem,” he says. The new findings raise the question of whether as much as is possible has been fixed with dams, and it’s now time to worry about other menaces to the fish.

Read more from Science News by clicking here.

Scientists achieve first tracking of salmon from headwaters in Rockies through Pacific to Alaska

Posted by: Maven on October 28, 2008 at 6:07 am

From Genetic Engineering & Biotech News:

Scientists have proven new miniature tagging and tracking technologies can follow the travels of small salmon through vast distances and highly dissimilar waters – from as far as the Rocky Mountain headwaters of USA’s Columbia River through the ocean to the coast of Alaska.

And, experts say, the breakthrough opens the way to reveal some of Mother Nature’s most closely guarded secrets.

Over the last decade, researchers have used tags to follow larger ocean dwellers such as sharks, sturgeon, tuna and sea turtles, and to follow migrations of mature salmon along marine coasts.

Now for the first time they have tagged and directly tracked small juvenile Pacific salmon, from their release in freshwater far upriver to distant ocean destinations, a major step towards understanding the full life experience and decline of this species.

“It may have been one of humankind’s first ponderings: the fish that got away – where they come from, where they go, and what happens to them in between,” says Jim Bolger, Executive Director of the Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking (POST) Project, part of the international Census of Marine Life and hosted by the Vancouver Aquarium.

“Until now it has been difficult to follow small animals in vast oceans, and it has only been possible to infer their movements using very indirect methods. Thanks to new sound-emitting tags about the size of an almond, combined with an extensive coastal network of underwater detectors from Alaska to California, several mysteries of fish migration and survival may soon start to unravel.”

Read more from Genetic Engineering & Biotech News by clicking here.

CSPA commentary: The final nail in Auburn Dam’s coffin?

Posted by: Maven on October 28, 2008 at 6:05 am

From IndyBay.org, this commentary from Jerry Neuberger of the CSPA:

In 1998, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance filed a protest regarding the Bureau Of Reclamation’s (BOR) permits to divert water for the Auburn Dam Project.

Ten years later, 37 years after the project was first permitted, the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) called a hearing to determine whether the permits should be revoked. In mid July, 2008, CSPA’s Bill Jennings and Chris Shutes testified in favor of revocation at the subsequent hearings regarding the revocation of the permit hearing, along with Ron Stork from Friends of the River and other allies. CSPA attorney Mike Jackson deftly and relentlessly cross-examined Bureau representatives and other Dam proponents..

Even though no work on Auburn Dam has taken place for more than a decade, the Bureau’s water rights permits actually kept the hope of resurrection possibility alive in the hearts of some federal water contractors, politicos and Congressional hopefuls. They were waiting for the big drought to retake the river and reverse past Congressional decisions with water rights in hand to make the project appear feasible.

California Trout sees mixed outcomes for wild and native fish at close of 2008 legislative session

Posted by: Maven on October 28, 2008 at 6:00 am

From the California Progress Report, California Trout’s Brian Stranko gives a rundown on how fish fared during the 2008 legislative session:

California’s wild and native fish had a mixed year in Sacramento. Fish and water policy and advocacy organization California Trout supported an ambitious agenda during this past legislative session. Many of the organization’s top priorities passed successfully through the legislative process only to be vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger. Listed here is a summary of how California Trout’s top policy priorities fared in the 2007-2008 legislative session:

• Gov. Vetoes Critical Department of Fish and Game Funding from 2008 Budget Act
The Governor line-item vetoed $3.9 million from the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) Biodiversity Conservation Program where its staff biologists review commercial timber operations to determine ways to lessen their impact on fish and wildlife resources, particularly endangered species such as coho salmon. The Governor also vetoed $1 million in DFG spending from the Hatchery and Inland Fisheries Fund created by AB 7 (Cogdill, 2005).

Read more from the California Progress Report by clicking here.

Restore the Delta wants you to support San Joaquin River restoration

Posted by: Maven on October 28, 2008 at 5:53 am

From IndyBay.org:

Restore the Delta is asking you right now to take special action on behalf of protecting the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the West Coast’s largest and most significant estuary. The federal San Joaquin River Restoration Bill is now under attack by the Central Valley exchange water contractors and needs your support, according to this action alert from Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla.

“Restoring fresh water flows to the San Joaquin River will not only help re-establish an important salmon run to California, but it will also help improve water quality for urban and agricultural communities in the South Delta,” said Barrigan Parrilla.

Salmon fishing this year is closed in the ocean waters of California and Oregon and in the Central Valley Rivers, with the exception of a short recreational season on the Sacramento River from Knights Landing to Red Bluff from November 1 through December 31. The closure was imposed by the state and federal governments, due to the collapse of Sacramento River salmon. We must do everything we can to restore the salmon populations of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers!

Read Restore the Delta’s action alert posted at IndyBay.org by clicking here.

Water conservation and environmental stewardship earn LADWP Platinum Award from the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies

Posted by: Maven on October 27, 2008 at 5:57 am

Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies honor Los Angeles Department of Water and Power for water conservation, 20-year water strategy and Lower Owens River Project

From the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, this press release:

Water conservation achievements, the development of a 20-year water strategy for Los Angeles and the restoration of the Lower Owens River in the Eastern Sierra — three major water inititatives of the Department of Water and Power — earned it the 2008 Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) Platinum Award for 2008, AMWA announced today at its annual convention in New Orleans.

The award stated: “Through an effective water conservation program, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has maintained the same level of city water use provided 25 years ago despite a propulation increase of one million people. It also developed a blueprint for meeting the city’s future water needs solely through water recycling and conservation. The utility exercises environmental stewardship through implementation of the Lower Owens River Project, one of the world’s largest river ecosystem restoration projects.”

“We could not be more pleased with this award as it validates the visionary thinking, hard work and dedication that defines water resource management at the LADWP,” said CEO and General Manager David Nahai. “L.A.’s water future depends on our ability to adopt an ethic of sustainability and we are making every effort to achieve this goal. This award is a testament to the dedicated staff of our water system who work day and night year-round to provide the highest quality tap water to four million Angelenos.”

Continue reading “Water conservation and environmental stewardship earn LADWP Platinum Award from the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies” »

Tamarisk removal complete on Colorado’s San Miguel River

Posted by: Maven on October 25, 2008 at 5:48 am

From the Nature Conservancy:

For the first time, a western river infested with tamarisk is now essentially tamarisk-free. An eight-year effort to control this invasive tree that is clogging river banks across the West is coming to a successful close along southwestern Colorado’s San Miguel River. “The impact of these woody invasives is huge — they rob waterways of their health and make recreational access cumbersome,” says The Nature Conservancy’s Peter Mueller, who directs the North San Juan Mountain Program in Colorado.

Tamarisk is estimated to have infested more than 100,000 acres of land in Colorado and more than 1.6 million acres across the West. Also known as salt cedar, tamarisk consumes massive amounts of water, drying up springs, streams and wetlands. Some estimates are that a single tamarisk removes about 200 gallons of river water a day. Tamarisk’s dense growth push out native plants and harms wildlife by blocking entrance to the water. The plant is also a nuisance to boaters and fishermen because it narrows streams and chokes out campsites.

The impact of this tenacious competitor is symptomatic of poor health in much of the Colorado River system, where damming and excessive water use by humans has compromised these rivers ability to function naturally. To address these problems, the Conservancy is working with its partners throughout Colorado and other states on a comprehensive strategy to restore the health of the Colorado River system as a whole.

Read more from the Nature Conservancy by clicking here.

Dan Bacher Commentary: State of Bay-Delta Science Book, Fact or Fiction

Posted by: Maven on October 24, 2008 at 5:43 am

From Dan Bacher, this commentary:

The CAL-FED “Science” Program yesterday published a book, the “State of Bay-Delta Science, 2008,” supposedly summarizing the “significant new knowledge” gleaned from eight years of research into water supply and water quality, ecosystems and levee fragility in the California Delta, according to a CAL-FED news release. However, the question is whether the book is a non-fiction publication based on scientific fact – or actually a highly compromised work of science fiction.

For those not familiar with CAL-FED, it is the joint-state federal agency, formed after a “Water Summit” by the state and federal governments in Sacramento in 1994, that has presided over the dramatic decline of Central Valley chinook salmon, Delta smelt, longfin smelt, green sturgeon, white sturgeon, striped bass, threadfin shad and other fish in the California Delta-San Francisco Bay Estuary.

The collapse of these species has huge implications for fisheries up and down the West Coast, since the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta is the largest and most important estuary on the Pacific Coast. Recreational and commercial salmon fishing is closed in ocean waters off California and Oregon for the first time in history this year, due to the collapse of Central Valley fall run chinook salmon populations.

Those of us aware of the numerous examples of political manipulation of science to serve corporate agribusiness and water developers under the Schwarzenegger and Bush administrations have become very wary of “political science” masquerading as “natural science” in reports such as this one. For example, the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force, a supposedly “independent” body appointed by Arnold Schwarzenegger, released a report last week advocating the construction of a peripheral canal and more dams to “restore” Delta fisheries, even though they would certainly further imperil collapsing populations of Central Valley chinook salmon and Delta fish.

Continue reading “Dan Bacher Commentary: State of Bay-Delta Science Book, Fact or Fiction” »

Manufacturing thirst: The hidden water costs of our industrial economy

Posted by: Maven on October 24, 2008 at 5:25 am

From AlterNet:

The rampant waste of freshwater for general public use — lawn watering, the creation of suburban fake lakes, excessive bathing and household washing — has been well documented, as has the politically charged use of water in US agriculture. But the use and abuse of water in various parts of the global industrial economy is often overlooked. From the mining of raw materials for manufacturing to energy production, to the manufacturing process itself, the US industrial economy uses a significant amount of water every year.

Exact numbers for the amount of water used outside of agriculture or home consumption are difficult to come by. The US Geological Survey (USGS) estimates that industry uses about five percent of all the water in the US, but does not include mining or electricity generation in that figure. A report from Dow Chemical puts the figure much higher, at around 20 percent. And perhaps more importantly, neither number takes into account the volume of water pollution that occurs in the course of industrial processes. At the very least, it’s clear that every year, billions of gallons of water are used — not to grow food or to meet physical human needs — but to quench our society’s thirst for the modern conveniences and technological devices we have come to rely on.

Read more from AlterNet by clicking here.

Six persistent herbicides found in wells across USA

Posted by: Maven on October 23, 2008 at 6:05 am

From the Environment News Service:

The widespread use of chemicals to control plant pests across the United States has been happening for decades, yet a newly released study shows that only a few herbicides have persisted in well water over the 10 years from 1993 to 2003.

Results for one of the first national studies on the presence of herbicides in groundwater is published by the U.S. Geological Survey in the September-October issue of the “Journal of Environmental Quality.”

One goal of the study was to track the retention of various types herbicides and pesticides used over the years. “The results of this study are encouraging for the future state of the nation’s groundwater quality with respect to pesticides,” said hydrologist Laura Bexfield of the U.S. Geological Survey’s New Mexico Water Science Center, who conducted the data analysis.

The study is a part of the National Water Quality Assessment Program, federally funded and conducted by the USGS. It aims to provide an understanding of water quality conditions and how those conditions may vary locally, regionally, and nationally; whether conditions are getting better or worse over time; and how natural features and human activities affect those conditions.

Read more from the Environment News Service by clicking here.

Odds and ends: Cascades water farm, doomed California, Las Vegas’s toxic & illegal water, how much is Trinity County’s water worth, and snails that walk on water

Posted by: Maven on October 22, 2008 at 4:00 pm

“Water and power have made our arid land flourish, may we keep faith with the pioneers who brought us these gifts” says the writing on this wall in downtown Los Angeles….

Water Wired weighs in on the Cascades groundwater: Referring to it as the “Cascades Water Farm”, Michael Campana of the Water Wired blog has a post about Monday’s article on the groundwater in Oregon, writing we do need to study these systems so that we can determine their transient responses to stresses and simulate the systems with fracture-flow models. We also need to distinguish between the amount of water stored in the systems and the amount that can be recovered; the two are not equal. More from the Water Wired blog by clicking here.

Is California Doomed because of gay marriage? This blogger reponds to a letter in the Fresno Bee that blamed California’s drought and wildfires on gay marriage, writing  The Drought has been going on since 2006. Was God punishing us for things we hadn’t done yet? What’s the real problem, according to this blogger? California is a friggin desert, not that you’d know because Californians insist on having lawns greener than those in Wisconsin. We ought to be growing cactus and other low water using plants. [and] This arid wasteland has over 30 million people, to name a few. Check out this post on the Fourth Dimensional Blog by clicking here.

Las Vegas’s water is toxic and illegal! From the Las Vegas CityLife blogs, this blogger responds to a recent report on bottled water, which included the news that bottled water from Wal-Mart tested high for contaminants, writing: where’s Wal-Mart getting at least some of that tasty beverage to pour into its bottles? The Las Vegas Valley Water District. So, you know that old joke about bottled water companies just putting tap water into fancy bottles with pictures of islands and glaciers and dolphins in sunglasses fanning themselves under palm trees? In this case, it’s true. Until Las Vegas’s water quality improves, he’s sticking with the horchata. Check it out from the Las Vegas City Life blog by clicking here.

How much money is Trinity County’s water worth? If Trinity County were to get an extremely conservative whole sale price of $133 per acre foot, as based on the California’s Environmental Water Account Plan for 2007- 2008 (actual open market price for June 2008 is $500 – $1000 per acre-foot dependent on extraction, transport, treatment and other costs), the county would collect over $111 Million in revenues. Additionally, if the county were able to produce its own power from these waters there would be an additional $150 million in revenues, based on $0.12 per kWh (statewide average charge for all sectors by PG&E). All that power and water is now going to the Westlands Water District by way of the Central Valley Project, and the water district’s in much better shape than Trinity County, says this commentary. Read all about it in the CSPA News blog by clicking here.

Snails that walk on water? “How the snails were dragging themselves across a surface that they could not even grip was absolutely perplexing to us,” said lead author Eric Lauga, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of California, San Diego. Find out how they do it in this article from National Geographic by clicking here.

Santa Clarita local ordinance would ban the use of water softeners:

Posted by: Maven on October 22, 2008 at 3:59 pm

From Water Technology Online, a local ordinance on the ballot is causing controversy in Aquafornia’s home base of Santa Clarita:

The Pacific Water Quality Association (PWQA), the Water Quality Association (WQA) and their allies will be gathering data in coming weeks to show California lawmakers that banning water softeners would have unintended downsides such as increasing consumption of energy, water, soaps and detergents.

Meanwhile, the PWQA is urging its members to help oppose, financially through a political action committee or otherwise, a local proposition being decided on the November ballot in the Los Angeles County community of Santa Clarita. Since 2003 Santa Clarita has banned installation of new softeners and has had a voluntary softener-removal program, but if approved by voters, the new law would mandate residential softener removals there.

Some water districts in California and elsewhere have sought recently to reduce salinity in wastewater, and the need to treat it, by restricting the installation or use of water softeners or by seeking their voluntary removal. However, according to PWQA spokesmen, the Santa Clarita proposal, if passed, would create the first mandatory removal ordinance.

“This is huge,” PWQA’s Tracy Strahl told the group at its recent conference in Anaheim. “This is the first time ever that somebody will be forced to remove an appliance from their home.”

If this measure does not pass, the residents of Santa Clarita will face steep rate hikes in their sewer bills as the city’s two treatment plants will have to be upgraded to reduce chloride discharges to acceptable standards. More from Water Technology Online by clicking here.

California’s Water: An LAO Primer

Posted by: Maven on October 22, 2008 at 10:11 am

From the Legislative Analyst’s Office:

California’s water delivery system is facing a series of challenges due in part to a combination of increasingly variable weather conditions, legal requirements, and system operation and conveyance constraints. These challenges affect water availability, reliability, and delivery. Recent public and private efforts have sought ways to address these challenges. These measures include proposals to increase water through groundwater storage, surface storage, infrastructure changes, and system operation improvements, among others.

This report provides, through a “quick reference” document relying heavily on charts to present information, a snapshot of water in California, including:
(1) An Overview of California’s Water Governance
(2) Water Supply, Source, and Delivery
(3) How Do We Finance Water Projects?
(4) What Drives the Cost of Water?
(5) Issues for Legislative Consideration

For the pdf version of the report, click here. For an HTML version, click here.

“Tightening the Water Belt” is the focus of new PBS segment airing tonight in Los Angeles

Posted by: Maven on October 22, 2008 at 10:07 am

From the ACWA, this press release:

Making long-term changes in the way Californians use water is the focus of the latest segment in the “California’s Water” series for public television, produced by Huell Howser and underwritten by the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA). The segment, “Tightening the Water Belt,” is set to air at 7:30 p.m. tonight (Oct. 22) on KCET in Los Angeles. Following its debut, it will air statewide on PBS stations (check local listings for details).

In the 30-minute segment, Huell visits the City of Long Beach to learn about its proactive approach to getting its customers to reduce their water use. The city was the first community to adopt mandatory water conservation since the last statewide drought in 1986-1992, and has launched a high-profile effort to educate residents on the benefits of using less water outdoors.

With all signs pointing to continued water supply challenges, many California communities are looking at ways to tighten their water belts. “As far as water is concerned, it’s not business as usual in California,” Huell says in the segment. “We are at a point where never again can we take our water for granted.”

Huell gets a primer on outdoor water use and some of the ways homeowners can slash their monthly water bills by watering less, replacing thirsty lawns with water-efficient landscaping and installing “SMART” controllers for their irrigation systems. He gets a first-hand look at an attractive front-yard makeover sponsored by the Long Beach Water Department and chronicled in a recent local television program, “The Reluctant Gardener.”

Kevin Wattier, general manager of the water department, said the city has adopted a long-term focus on changing behavior when it comes to water use. “People need to recognize that we have to do a better job in California of conserving water,” he tells Huell.

The “California’s Water” series began airing in April 2006.

ACWA is a statewide association of public agencies whose 450 members are responsible for about 90% of the water delivered in California. For more information, visit www.acwa.com.

CAL-FED releases “State of Bay-Delta Science 2008″ report

Posted by: Maven on October 22, 2008 at 6:33 am

From the CAL-FED website:

The State of Bay-Delta Science 2008 report is the CALFED Science Program’s first extensive effort at compiling, synthesizing, and communicating the current scientific understanding of the San Francisco Bay Estuary and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta ecosystems. Intended for resource managers, policymakers, and the public, the report provides relevant scientific information in context to help make important policy choices about the Delta. This first report focuses on what was learned during the first stage of the CALFED Program and provides a basis for upcoming decisions during CALFED’s stage 2, the Delta Vision Strategic Plan, and other Delta planning initiatives.

Among the report’s findings:

* The Delta of tomorrow will be very different than it is today. Intensifying forces of change, such as land subsidence, rising sea level, species invasions, earthquakes and regional population growth, virtually guarantee that current land and water use in the Delta cannot be sustained. (Chapter 1)
* The largest estuary in western North America, the Bay-Delta is a system of extremes. Discharge from tributary rivers varies more from year to year than other large western rivers, such as the Columbia or Colorado. (Chapter 2)
* Many toxic chemicals are a concern in the Delta. Organisms can often be affected by very low concentrations of contaminants. Effects can be magnified though concentration up the food chain or synergistic effects of mixtures. (Chapter 3)
* Since 2001, both public and scientific attention has focused on the unexpected decline of several open-water fishes (delta smelt, longfin smelt, juvenile striped bass, and threadfin shad). It is clear that export pumping is only one of several factors contributing to the decline. Other factors include changes in food supply, loss of habitat and toxic chemicals. (Chapter 4)
* When levees were first constructed, Delta islands were close to sea level. Farming, water extraction, burning and wind erosion have lowered the island interiors and recent subsidence modeling suggests that by 2200, the Central Delta will be 30 to 40 feet below sea level. (Chapter 5)
* With climate change, California will become warmer, more precipitation will fall as rain and less as snow, the snowpack will be much reduced, and there will be less groundwater recharge. These changes will challenge the capacity of California’s water management system to provide reliable, high quality water to satisfy human and environmental needs. (Chapter 6)
* As science has developed a better understanding of Delta water supply, water quality, levees and ecosystem, it has become clear that many problems are tightly interlinked and cannot be solved independently. Greater study of the cross-cutting linkages among problems will be needed for effective solutions to be found. (Chapter 7)
* Delta problems involve multiple variables, are large in scale, are socially and economically significant, and transcend the established institutional approach to problem-solving. Social scientists call such problems “wicked problems.” The problems are characterized by an evolving set of interlocking issues and there is no definitive formulation of “the” problem or “the” solution. (Chapter 8)

You can download a copy of the report by clicking here.

Big day for reports! Check back later this morning as the Legislative Analysts Office will be releasing a report on California’s water system. For more reports and publications on California water issues, check out Aquafornia’s Research and Publications page.

Commentary: Delta Vision report points to need for comprehensive water solution

Posted by: Maven on October 22, 2008 at 5:53 am

From the California Farm Bureau Federation, this commentary:

It could be the most complicated, difficult policy decision facing California today: Figure out what to do in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Recommendations on how to attack the delta’s environmental problems will have everything to do with the water supplies for thousands of family farmers and ranchers and for millions of California residents.

So it’s no wonder that the recommendations of the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force made such a splash when they were released last Friday. The task force worked for nearly two years and wrote a detailed, comprehensive plan that can be boiled down to its essence in a few words:

There’s no “silver bullet” that will solve all the delta’s problems; we have to consider anything and everything.

Farm Bureau has devoted significant resources to the public process that informed the task force’s deliberations. I represented Farm Bureau on a “Stakeholder Coordination Group” that advised the task force. We’ve read each draft of its report carefully and provided lengthy comments. We feel as though the task force gave us a fair hearing, and we know it was listening to hundreds of other people and interests with often-contradictory points of view.

Find out more about the CFBF’s take on the Delta Vision report by clicking Continue reading “Commentary: Delta Vision report points to need for comprehensive water solution” »

“State of Bay-Delta Science, 2008″ is Released: Landmark Publication on the California Delta

Posted by: Maven on October 21, 2008 at 6:13 am

From Cal-Fed, this news release:

The CALFED Science Program has published a book summarizing the significant new knowledge gleaned from eight years of CALFED science research into water supply and water quality, ecosystems and levee fragility in the California Delta. The State of Bay-Delta Science, 2008, is being released on October 21, 2008, on the eve of the 5th Biennial CALFED Science Conference, initiating the gathering of 1,200 San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta scientists, managers and policymakers.

“This is a landmark publication summarizing our current understanding of the Delta by the most knowledgeable experts on the estuary,” said Cliff Dahm, CALFED Lead Scientist. The effort was led by Michael Healey, a former CALFED Lead Scientist and Science Advisor to the Governor’s Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force. “I envision this as a go-to book for managers and policy makers, as well as interested members of the public that are working to gain a better understanding through science of forces at work in the Delta,” said Healey.

The definitive reference pulls together in one publication information on a broad array of issues critical to the sustainable management of water and the Delta. The science outlined in this volume is expected to play a critical role in the implementation of Delta Vision and the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan. Some of the key points made in the 174-page book include the following:

• The Delta of tomorrow will be very different than it is today. Intensifying forces of change, such as land subsidence, rising sea level, species invasions, earthquakes and regional population growth, virtually guarantee that current land and water use in the Delta cannot be sustained. (Chapter 1)
• When levees were first constructed, Delta islands were close to sea level. Farming, water extraction, burning and wind erosion have lowered the island interiors. Additionally, recent subsidence modeling suggests that by 2200, the Central Delta will be 30 to 40 feet below sea level. (Chapter 5)
• With climate change, California will become warmer, more precipitation will fall as rain and less as snow, the snowpack will be much reduced, and there will be less groundwater recharge. These changes will challenge the capacity of California’s water management system to provide reliable, high-quality water to satisfy human and environmental needs.
(Chapter 6)

Other areas of the book deal with Delta history, science, geophysics, water quality and supply, aquatic ecosystems, levees, climate change, policy development and some themes that are crosscutting across areas and issues.

In addition to Healey, other editors of the publication are Michael D. Dettinger, Research Hydrologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography; and Robert B. Norgaard, Professor of Energy and Resources at the University of California, Berkeley. Darcy Jones and Jana Machula of the CALFED Science Program were managing editors.

Among the authors are two former CALFED lead scientists, Samuel Luoma and Johnnie Moore; retired state chief hydrologist, Maurice Roos; present and former CALFED scientists Steven Culberson, Matt Nobriga, Mark Roberson, Elizabeth Soderstrom and Lisa Holm; USGS scientists Brian Bergamaschi, Robin Stewart, Cathy Ruhl, David Schoellhamer, Jan Thompson and Larry Brown; academics Wim Kimmerer and Peter Moyle; and consultants Roy Shlemon, Susan Anderson and Loren Bottorff.

Copies of the The State of Bay-Delta Science, 2008, will be available to attendees of the CALFED Science Conference October 22-24, at the Sacramento Convention Center, or beginning October 22 on the CALFED website. Hard copies are available by contacting Rhonda Hoover-Flores at rhondah@calwater.ca.gov.
####

I will post a link to the report when it becomes available.

Overpopulation and over-immigration threaten water supply, says ad campaign

Posted by: Maven on October 21, 2008 at 6:07 am

From Market Watch, this press release from Californians for Population Stabilization:

Californians for Population Stabilization (CAPS) and allied organizations have initiated an ad campaign to draw attention to America’s looming water shortages and the role that population growth plays in the problem. The advertisements will appear in major national publications. “California and other parts of the country are already experiencing water shortages, yet the nation’s population will increase by 100 million people in just thirty years if we do not change course,” said Diana Hull, the organization’s President.

Low rainfall this spring led some water districts in California to institute mandatory rationing, and other districts have called for voluntary reductions. Politicians have responded with proposals for new, but often environmentally destructive, water projects. “In 1976 and 1977, California experienced much lower totals of rainfall than that of the last two years. Since then we have implemented a number of conservation measures so we should be in good shape. The difference is that California’s population was 22 million in 1976 and today it is 38 million,” continued Hull.

A Census Bureau report indicates that the U.S. population will rise to 439 million by 2050, or 135 million more than today. More than 80 percent of U.S. population growth will continue to be a direct result of immigration and births to immigrants. In California — where the population increases by a half million per year — that immigration component accounts for virtually 100 percent of the growth.

“Water is a precious resource, and as with other resources, we must learn to use it more efficiently. But we must also limit the demands that we place on our resources, and that means limiting immigration as well,” Hull said.

The ad campaign is part of a long-term effort by CAPS and its partners in America’s Leadership Team for Long Range Population-Immigration-Resource Planning to raise public consciousness about population growth and its effects on environmental problems. CAPS is a nonprofit organization that promotes policies designed to stabilize the population of California and the United States at a level that will protect resources and promote a good quality of life for all.

DWR Weather and Climate News for October: Wet fall a possibility

Posted by: Maven on October 18, 2008 at 6:36 am

From DWR’s Weather and Climate News:

There is a bit of an update on the fall forecast. Trends are now toward the possibility of a wet fall. Several weeks ago, there was very limited information as to the long-range outlook. And while nothing substantial has transpired, there are indications that a bigger player in this winter’s scenario will be the Madden-Julian Oscillation.

The MJO is a weather phenomenon that has some pretty clear signals, so forecasters can get an idea of its development with an advance time of 30-60 days. Beginning in the Indian Ocean, enhanced convection begins and moves eastward across the Pacific. The MJO essentially produces warm, wet storms, with boosts from both the tropics and the colder Arctic air.

There is only a lead time of a few days for determining where along the west coast these warm, wet MJO storms will hit. Some may not even turn into big low pressure cells, but those that do can strike anywhere from the Pacific Northwest, to Southern California. So pay attention to where they seem to be tracking. And when they do come onshore, they can produce rather heavy downpours. Historically, Bay Area flooding in December, 2003 and Southern California flooding in February, 2004 were of the MJO under ENSO neutral conditions variety. According to the CPC, we are in a La Nada (ENSO Neutral; neither El Nino nor La Nina), or maybe a slightly cool, weak La Nina, which had been very strong last year.

Biggest risk, for now, will be burn areas. With multiple sites from record wildfires up and down the state, debris flow and flash flooding might be triggered.

The National Weather Service Sacramento Office is discussing the potential of a wet fall, and for these types of storms to develop in November. Both the north and south state could be impacted by MJO type storms. Balance all these forecast indicators against the nearly La Nada indicator, which doesn’t provide strong guidance for either a wetter or drier than normal winter. It’s a hard thing to forecast a whole winter. But they say there may be hopes of a normal to wetter than normal Northern Sierra winter. Southern California could have a dry year, but the MJO is a possibility there, too. So, very hard forecast.

The picture for this season also includes great capacity in our reservoirs for incoming rain, so that’s one upside of 2 dry years. Many of the larger upstate reservoirs are at about one-third capacity, so mainstem river flooding would be something much slower to develop.

Continue reading “DWR Weather and Climate News for October: Wet fall a possibility” »

Report shows global water crisis promotes desalination boom; International Desalination Association releases latest statistics

Posted by: Maven on October 18, 2008 at 6:18 am

From Water World:

Worldwide growth in the use of desalination to produce a reliable supply of drinking water rose sharply over the past year indicating that desalination technologies are being used more than ever to address the global thirst for new sources of potable water, according to new statistics released today by the International Desalination Association (IDA).

According to the 2008-2009 edition of IDA’s Desalination Yearbook, published by Global Water Intelligence, the amount of global contracted (planned) capacity grew by 43 percent in 2007, or 6.8 million cubic meters per day (m³/d), up from 4.7 million m³/d in total contracted capacity in 2006. This increase of 2.1 million m³/d is enough to supply potable water to more than 50 million people.

IDA reports that this growth trend has continued in 2008. During the first six months of this year alone, newly contracted capacity has increased by an additional 39%.

As of June 30, 2008, the cumulative contracted capacity of desalination plants around the world stood at 62.8 million m³/d. Sixty-two percent of the newly contracted capacity is seawater desalination, with brackish water desalination representing another 12.2 million m³/d. Wastewater applications of desalination technologies for water reuse is growing fast, currently representing 5 percent of total capacity.

More from Water World by clicking here.

Sustainable remediation – Travis AFB cleans up contaminated groundwater with solar-powered bioreactor

Posted by: Maven on October 18, 2008 at 5:50 am

From the Air Force Link:

Over the last 25 years, the Air Force has devoted a lot of effort and resources to clean up soil and groundwater contamination from past industrial activities. Although the Environmental Protection Agency has overseen and supported this cleanup work and other cleanup projects across the country, it has recently become concerned with the amount of energy consumed and pollution created to carry out cleanup work.

As a response to this concern, the EPA has developed the concept of sustainable remediation. Sustainable remediation means that one part of the environment is cleaned up without dirtying up another part of the environment. An example is a treatment plant that is powered by an energy source that does not create green house gases. Two key objectives of sustainable remediation are to reduce energy consumption and to minimize or eliminate carbon dioxide emissions to the air.

Travis Air Force Base has been on the forefront of sustainable remediation when it began in 2005 to install solar-powered pumps to parts of the base where electricity was not readily available. Solar power is plentiful, cheap and generates no greenhouse gases.

Because of past successes in sustainable remediation and a willingness to try innovative cleanup approaches, the base was recently selected by the Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment to demonstrate a new sustainable solar-powered cleanup technology called a bioreactor. A bioreactor is pit or trench that is filled with mulch, iron filings or vegetable oil and surrounded by a network of extraction and injection wells. Contaminated water runs though the reactive material and is cleaned by biological and chemical processes. The wells recirculate the water through the reactive material to complete the cleanup process, and solar panels provide the power to run the system.

“We thought we were doing well when we added batteries to the two solar wells so that groundwater extraction and treatment could run at night, but this new bioreactor is far superior, especially when you consider the energy savings involved,” stated Mr. Lonnie Duke of the Environmental Restoration Program staff.

Read more from the Air Force Link by clicking here.

Odds and ends: How many hamburgers does a reservoir hold, track wildfires online, eco-insanity, what’s in the riverbed that didn’t make the news, realtor tours SWP, plus online groundwater resources for free!

Posted by: Maven on October 17, 2008 at 7:52 am

Happy Friday to all!

How many hamburgers does a reservoir hold? Kelly Zito of the San Francisco Chronicle’s Village Green blog asks himself after a visit to the dwindling mud puddle that is now the San Luis Reservoir: The reservoir also has a visitor center, where helpful rangers answer questions, point our landmarks and give out fact sheets. One pamphlet that I’d picked up popped into my mind the other day while I was eating a hamburger and contemplating California’s drought (Yes, I think about these things during my off hours…). Essentially, the sheet highlights the fact that everything we eat can be boiled down (harhar) and measured by the amount of water needed to produce it. It’s the carbon footprint idea, using water instead. According to this handout, it took nearly 700 gallons… …of water to grow the ingredients and produce the hamburger I was enjoying so much. At 13% full, Zito calculates the San Luis Reservoir holds about 121 million hamburgers! More from the Village Green blog by clicking here.

Track wildfires online – not water-related (forgive me!) but I’ve been looking for something like this for a long time! The O.C. Register’s Sciencedude informs: A small Redding company has created an online “wildfire viewer” that allows the public to see the changing perimeter of large brush fires in Orange County and the rest of Southern California. I could have used something like this when wildfire swept very close to our neighborhood last year. Check it out and bookmark that site, and I hope you won’t need to use it in the upcoming fire season. Click here for Sciencedude article.

Government eco-insanity intensifies, environmentalists out of control, says Laer of the Cheat Seeking Missiles blog, responding to a recent Capital Ag Press article about how a ruling in New York could affect irrigation systems out west. While Clean Water legislation in the 1970′s brought pollution and big polluters under control, he writes: What’s not under control are environmentalists intent on using these laws to bring down our nation, so they came up with the idea of calling water a pollutant. If New York City buys water from upstate New York and puts it into its pipe, these guys want New York to have to consider that water a pollutant and get a discharge permit. It’s literally costing New York millions of dollars, and the irrigation systems of the west could be next, says the Capital Ag Press article. More from the Cheat Seaking Missiles blog by clicking here.

Watch out for that linty white stuff in the riverbed, warns Santa Clarita blogger who attended the River Rally event – an event to pick up trash in the riverbed held on the same day as the Coastal Cleanup Day: A friend and I got to the River Rally early, and we were part of the advance guard moving north through the wash. I started picking up pieces of white, linty paper when my friend yelled “That’s used toilet paper!” Unfortunately, I hadn’t noticed the used part before picking it up. Now the good news was that I was wearing gloves. The bad news is they were basically loosely-woven garden gloves, not exactly ideal for handling…y’know. Other cleaners also went on to encounter the discarded toilet paper. Two high school girls showed remarkable ingenuity when confronted with this challenge. Like in a documentary about primitive man, they improvised tools from sticks, spearing the toilet paper with a sharp branch before putting it in the trash bag. I was duly impressed. Find out more of what else he found in the riverbed in this blog post from I Heart SCV by clicking here.

Realtor follows the water on a recent Metropolitan Water District tour: In a series of three posts rich with pictures, realtor Gene Wunderlich toured the State Water Project with the MWD. Stops included the Edmonston Pumping Plant, Lake Oroville, and the Delta. Check it out from the Southwest California Homes blog: Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3. You can also check out Aquafornia’s desk chair tour of the California Aqueduct by clicking here.

Free Water Geek Groundwater literature online! The USGS has put out a new circular on groundwater, titled Ground-Water Availability in the United States, and Water-Wired blog alerts you to the fact that a textbook, Unsaturated Zone Hydrology for Scientists and Engineers, is also available online at no cost!

ACWA welcomes new vision for Delta; ACWA to remain engaged as Strategic Plan moves to Cabinet-Level committee

Posted by: Maven on October 17, 2008 at 6:30 am

From the Association of California Water Agencies via MarketWatch:

Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) Executive Director Timothy Quinn issued the following statement today on the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force’s strategic plan. The task force is meeting for the last time today and tomorrow to finalize the plan, which will provide the basis for a cabinet-level committee to issue recommendations to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature to improve the sustainability of the Delta.

“As the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force completes its work, we appreciate the sincere effort this group has sustained over the past two years to move toward a new vision for the Delta. Task force members have taken an unflinching look at the Delta and its complexities, and we commend them for their commitment.

“In 2005, ACWA asked the governor to establish a process that would break the decades-old stalemate over the Delta and lead to a powerful new vision. The task force has moved substantially in that direction, and we applaud the out-of-the-box thinking shown to date. We strongly agree with the co-equal goals of ecosystem health and water system reliability that the task force has established as the cornerstone of its plan.

“ACWA members are encouraged by the physical solutions recommended by the task force. We agree with the call for improved Delta conveyance, linked to expanded surface and groundwater storage, to be operated for the co-equal goals. We also support the substantial investments recommended in water use efficiency and local resource development. These are in fact the very elements of the comprehensive water package we have worked hard to advance in recent years.

“We remain concerned, however, about the details of the governance recommendations, as well as potential proposals to take water away from water rights holders without compensation. ACWA will remain engaged as this process moves toward final recommendations to the governor and Legislature by year’s end.”

ACWA is a statewide association of public agencies whose 450 members are responsible for about 90% of the water delivered in California. For more information, visit www.acwa.com.

Dan Bacher commentary: Delta Vision Task Force proposes peripheral canal, more dams

Posted by: Maven on October 17, 2008 at 6:27 am

From Dan Bacher at IndyBay.org:

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force will release its final recommendations today and tomorrow in West Sacramento. Unfortunately, the supposedly “independent” body is releasing a strategic plan that recommends a new version of a bad old idea – the peripheral canal that California voters broadly defeated in 1982.

The task force is recommending “dual conveyance” facilities that will result in the destruction of the California Delta as an estuary – and seal the doom of Central Valley fall run chinook salmon and Delta smelt, longfin smelt, threadfin shad, striped bass and other fish populations. Salmon fishing in ocean waters off the California and Oregon is closed this year, due to the collapse of Central Valley fall run chinook populations spurred by record water exports out of the Delta and other factors. The closure has caused economic devastation in coastal communities up and down the coast.

The strategic plan’s latest draft contains seven broad goals and dozens of objectives to reach these goals. One of the goals is to “build facilities to improve the existing water conveyance system and expand statewide storage, and operate both to achieve the co-equal goal.”

“Over the next decade or two, the state must have new water storage, above and below ground, and must also build new Delta water conveyance facilities,” said Phil Isenberg, the task force chair, in an editorial in today’s Sacramento Bee (http://www.sacbee.com/1190/story/1317793.html). “The task force prefers the ‘dual conveyance’ approach, where water is transported both through and around the Delta.”

Unfortunately, the task force recommendations, although including some “restoration” language in an attempt to make it more palatable to environmental and fishing groups, are essentially doing the same thing that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Senator Diane Feinstein are doing in campaigning for their water bond proposal – pushing for the building of more dams and a peripheral canal.

More from Dan Bacher at IndyBay.org by clicking here.

2008 Climate Change Summit: Managing Risks & Uncertainty

Posted by: Maven on October 17, 2008 at 6:21 am

This upcoming event is sponsored by the California Department of Water Resources and the Water Education Foundation, and co-sponsored by the League of California Cities & the California State Association of Counties:

When: November 13-14, 2008
Where: Long Beach Hilton
2 World Trade Center
Long Beach, CA

What: This day and a half summit will bring together top experts from local water agencies, cities, state government, and those in the water community connected with state and federal water systems, to discuss the effects of climate change and adaptation on California’s water management. The summit will address the challenges and opportunities facing California in the development of water policies in
the face of climate change.

Program Highlights: The interest in discussing adaptive measures for an increasingly variable future has become more urgent as California faces its second consecutive dry year, leading the governor to declare a statewide drought. The existing water system in California was planned and built before climate change scenarios were considered.

For those working in the water community in California, the summit will provide an opportunity
to discuss and debate the impact climate change will have, and how best to handle the risks
and uncertainties of water resource management.

Participants in the Climate Change Summit will have the opportunity to discuss pending federal legislation, hear about development of regional climate change models, learn about various risk management tools that they can use in their own work, and find out about the extensive efforts underway to incorporate planning for climate change into state and local water management policies.

Summit Topics Include:
➤ Adaptation and Management
➤ Assessing Hydrologic Risks
➤ Incorporating Flood Planning Into Cities’ General Plans
➤ Sea Level Rise
➤ Preparing for a Dry 2009

Registration for this 1-1/2 day event is $250. Fee includes materials, continental breakfasts, and lunch
and evening reception Nov. 13.

Scholarships are available. Contact the Foundation for more information on scholarship qualifications.

Check in will begin at 8:00 a.m. and the program will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Nov. 13. The Summit will adjourn at noon on Nov. 14. Complimentary Foundation and other materials will be distributed to participants.

For more information or to register online, click here.

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